Ireland and to co-operate
WALES and Ireland will continue to co-operate on a range of economic development and cultural projects despite Brexit, the Foreign Minister of Ireland declared yesterday during a day-long visit to the Welsh capital.
Simon Coveney said the intention was to deepen the historic ties between the two countries, and not to let Brexit create insurmountable challenges.
Together with other ministers from both countries, Mr Coveney and First Minister Mark Drakeford discussed areas in which cooperation would be fruitful.
The two countries continue to share a common travel area that pre-dates their membership of the EU although Brexit has caused trading barriers that remain a matter of serious disagreement between the UK and Irish governments, especially in the context of Northern Ireland.
Mr Coveney, who formally opened a new Irish Consulate in Cardiff Bay, said: “We recognise a common interest in creating new structures for bilateral engagement.
“The new Ireland-Wales Forum [launched in March this year] is an important platform for deepening that co-operation. Ireland is the fourth largest market for exports from Wales and Irish companies zare a growing part of the Welsh economy, responsible for about 90 companies here and employing 4,000 people.
“Re-establishing a diplomatic presence in Wales is fundamental to our ambition Global Ireland programme, which we see as doubling Ireland’s impact around the world by 2025.
“My department of foreign affairs is in expansion mode and we have been for a number of years opening many new embassies and consulates in strategic locations around the world – and we believe this is one of the most important of them.
“Our message is one of partnership, empathy and independence. These are values shaping how we are delivering as a member of the UN Security Council now and how we operate in the world more generally. We have agreed to connect our future leaders through the Future Leaders Academy in Wales. I was delighted to meet some of these inspiring young Welsh leaders.
“The whole concept of future leaders and indeed legislating to ensure the wellbeing of future generations is something I would like to transfer directly across the Irish Sea. Of course there are many challenges facing both our countries. In recent decades our shared membership of the EU was an important thread binding us together, framing the agenda and the context for much of our cooperation.
“In the new changed context we are committed to looking at ways to sustain and renew connections, such as the strong research partnerships between our universities.
“We also want to bring continued focus to those networks of communities and business projects that were initiated through EU programmes, such as Horizon, Erasmus and the Ireland-Wales programme.
“We are ambitious about what we can achieve across these islands in order to deliver real and meaningful benefits for all of our people.
“That is, and will continue to be, the driving force of the team here in this consulate.”
Mr Drakeford said: “Back in March we agreed a new stage in that very old relationship that exists between Wales and Ireland.
“We’ve talked about many things while we’ve been together – the challenge we’ve faced through the Covid emergency and the impact that has had in Wales and Ireland.
“We’ve talked about Brexit and the challenges that have put in the path of our existing relationships. But we’ve also talked even more about the many opportunities that are there for both our nations through working together closely on the things that will shape our futures.
“We have particularly focused in our discussions on the opportunity for trade and for the actions we are both committed to take in facing that other great challenge of our time – climate change, biodiversity loss and the need – the obligation – to do everything we can to hand on the fragile but beautiful spot that we are privileged to live in on to those who come after us in the best possible state that we can.
“As well as those hugely challenging areas, the other massively encouraging part of the day has been to see the fruits of the agreement that we struck only eight months ago.”
Mr Drakeford said funding would be made available for Welsh language and Irish language projects, as well as for the highly praised Other Voices programme that brings together musicians from different backgrounds and showcases music in festivals held in Dingle, Co Kerry and Cardigan.
New ways are also being found for the National Museums of Wales and Ireland to work together.